The Voice Inside
by Earth Star
Summary: When a girl makes fun of Zelgadis, Amelia teaches her a lesson she'll never forget


  
  


Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Slayers characters and the song "The Voice Inside" Belongs to Amanda Marshall.

  
  


Author's Note: This is my first song fic, so if you think it's bad please don't flame me.

  
  


The Voice Inside

  
  


Genius is in the mistakes

The rules do not apply

Maybe the wrong time and place

Listen to the voice inside

  
  


Zelgadis tugged at the collar of his shirt. He could never understand why these fancy tuxedos always have to feel so tight. He leaned his back against the white stair railing as his eyes gazed upon the party already in motion. 

  
  


At the end of their previous adventure, Lina, Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadis returned to Sailune. When the gang went to the palace to see Phil, they had learned that the prince had planned a ball the very next night to celebrate the 500 year reign of Sailune. Phil insisted that they should attend.

  
  


Amelia of course agreed as did Lina and Gourry, the two knowing there was going to be food. Zelgadis however was not so enthusiastic about the ball. The last thing he wanted was to be in a large room with a huge crowd of people staring at him, but somehow Amelia made him promise he would go. The chimera still wasn't too sure of how she had done it, but he had a strange feeling wine was involved.

  
  


His eyes wondered over to the tables where Lina and Gourry were already busy stuffing their faces with food. Zelgadis went into his pocket and pulled out his silver pocket watch to see what time it was. Amelia had asked him to wait at the bottom of the stairs for her while she was getting dressed for the ball. By reading his watch, Zelgadis estimated that he had been waiting for over 15 minutes. He let out a sigh as he returned the watch to his pocket.

  
  


"How long can it take for a princess to get ready for a ball?" he thought.

  
  


"Mr. Zelgadis." a voice suddenly rang out. Zel recognized the voice instantly. He turned around and looked up to the top of the stairs. The chimera's eyes went wide open at the sight.

  
  


Amelia was wearing a beautiful elegant white gown. The gown fitted her body perfectly as it revealed her slim figure. She wore a light pink rose coloured sash around her waist. On her ears, she wore diamond studded earrings, which glittered in the light making them almost look like fireflies. Around her neck hung a silver heart shaped locket and she also wore a tiara on her head.

  
  


The princess smiled warmly at Zelgadis. "Sorry for making you wait for so long."

  
  


Hey-just cause he ain't tall

So I met him at the mall

Doesn't mean that I should write him off 

  
  


The chimera could feel his cheeks blushing bright red. "Um...that's alright." he stammered.

  
  


Amelia lifted up the end of her gown and stepped down the stairs carefully so she wouldn't trip.

  
  


Zelgadis was able to rid himself of his blush right before Amelia reached the last step. She looked up to Zelgadis with a big huge smile. 

  
  


"Oh Mr. Zelgadis you look so handsome!" she said.

  
  


"Thank you and I must say Amelia you look very beautiful in that dress." Zel replied as he fought back another blush. Amelia held out her hand for Zelgadis to take.

  
  


"Care to join me for a dance?" Amelia asked.

  
  


Zelgadis took a small step back as if she had just shown him a spider in her hand.

  
  


"Um.... I don't think that's a wise decision Amelia." he said.

  
  


Amelia frowned. "Why not?"

  
  


"Well.....I've never really danced before. I would probably just embarrass both you and me."

  
  


Amelia's face suddenly brightened up. "Oh is that all? Mr. Zelgadis I can easily teach you to dance and as a champion of justice I won't take no for an answer." Amelia once again held out her hand for Zel to take. 

  
  


Zel took one more look at the dance floor and gulped. "Alright" he said as he slipped Amelia's hand into his.

  
  


It's just a circumstance

So what if he can't dance?

His heart is kind and those big hands are soft.

He speaks a language that can change what I believe.

  
  


Together they walked into the room. Amelia turned to face Zel. "Now first you place your hand on my shoulder" she instructed. Zelgadis did as she ordered. A small blush appeared on Amelia cheeks. "Now you.....um....put your other hand on my waist." Zelgadis also blushed, but placed his hand anyway. "Now we just walk around in a triangle. We'll count while we dance until you get the hang of it. Ok?" 

  
  


Zel nodded. "Alright 1....2....3....1....2.....3." For the next few minutes they kept moving to Amelia's counting. Zelgadis seemed to stagger for the first few steps, but soon he got more control and became more confident. Amelia no longer had to count and the couple started to move to the beat of the music.

  
  


Zelgadis soon forgot of the other people in the room and only concentrated on Amelia. It was almost if they had become one and danced gracefully across the floor like they had been doing it all of their lives.

  
  


Amelia was in absolute bliss. She felt she had died and gone to heaven. Soon the song ended and Zelgadis and Amelia were forced to stop.

  
  


Genius is in the mistakes

The rules do not apply.

Maybe the wrong time and place.

To the naked eye.

To the conscious mind.

Shouldn't be denied.

Listen to the voice inside. 

  
  


"How was that Amelia?" asked Zelgadis.

  
  


Amelia's eyes lighted up like a Christmas tree. "That was wonderful Mr. Zelgadis! You sure are a fast learner. If you don't mind I am going to the garden to get some air."

  
  


"That's fine." the chimera replied "I'll go talk with Lina and Gourry."

  
  


With that decided, Amelia headed out to the garden. Even though it was a warm summer night it was much cooler outside then it was inside. Amelia sat down on a bench and lifted her head up to admire the stars up above. Amelia smiled with a content sigh. The night was absolutely perfect, nothing could possibly ruin the mood she was in.

  
  


"Oh, here you are Amelia!" a high pitched voice shouted.

  
  


Amelia's smile dropped to a frown in less then a second and she cringed inside. "Oh no!" she groaned in her head. Amelia turned around to find herself facing a girl about her age. 

  
  


The girl had long blonde hair that went down to her waist. The girl's dress was a flashy bright purple and it was also quite revealing. 

  
  


Amelia sighed. "Hello Merle." Amelia said with a forced smile.

  
  


Merle was a princess from another kingdom that was much smaller then Sailune. Amelia had met her several times before from attending past royal balls and Merle gave the name "Royal Pain" a whole new meaning. She had an ego so big, it made Lina's look like the size of a pin when compared and the fact that most of the men at the parties would drool over her didn't help much. In Amelia's opinion, she was a spoiled brat.

  
  


Merle smiled innocently at Amelia and sat down on the bench right next to her without even asking. "What are you doing out here Amelia?" asked Merle.

  
  


"Oh I just needed some air. It was getting a little warm in there."

  
  


"I know exactly what you mean." Merle said while she was flipping some of her hair over her shoulder "I was starting to feel hot too. Not to mention my feet were starting to kill me from all of those men asking me to dance with them." Merle let out a tried sigh. "But when you have my gorgeous face and my long slim body I guess I can only do nothing but suffer." From Merle's tone of her voice, Amelia knew that she was not as suffering as she claimed.

  
  


Amelia sighed and forced another sweet smile. She had learned a long time ago it was best to just pretend she was interested into what Merle was saying, to be polite. As her mother once told her"If you don't have anything nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all."

  
  


"That's too bad" Amelia replied.

  
  


Merle tilted her head at Amelia. "Well at least I wasn't suffering like you were."

  
  


Amelia stared at her puzzled. "Excuse me?"

  
  


"Oh, you know when you were dancing with that weird looking man. What was his name......Zelgodis?"

  
  


"It's Zelgadis." Amelia corrected "And I was not suffering."

  
  


"So why did you dance with him?" Merle replied, not really listening to Amelia. "Did your father force you?"

  
  


"No, I dance because I wanted to."

  
  


Merle stared at Amelia as if she had said she was going to jump off the top of a tall tower. "You're kidding me?! Why on earth would you want to dance with a freak like him?"

  
  


So-my friends don't think he's cool.

He likes Coltrane, I like Tool.

He wears leather patches on his tweed.

  
  


Amelia began to twitch a little at Merle's comment, but she managed to hold her temper. "Because Merle he is a very good friend of mine and I happen to care about him very much."

  
  


Merle tilted her head back and stared into Amelia's face. "Well I for one would be humiliated to be seen with him in public." Amelia's knuckles were turning white from making her hands into tight fist. "I mean, the guy has a face only a mother could love and the way he danced it was so obvious he was a beginner." Amelia could feel her face becoming bright red as she was fuming at Merle. She didn't seem to notice Amelia for she continued. "If I ever dated him, the best use I could find for him is to be a door stop or a statue to put in my garden....." Merle stopped as Amelia banged her fist onto the bench. 

  
  


She glared at Merle with a face that could scare a mad wild horse. Amelia could no longer hold it in. In the past, she had put up with Merle's teasing, but this time she had gone to far. 

  
  


"Now listen Merle, I will not allow for you to say such terrible things about Mr. Zelgadis!" Amelia shouted "He the most handsome and intelligent man I have ever known. I warn you, if you don't apologize right now for everything you said, you will regret it!"

  
  


Yeah-but I know that he's deep.

The company I keep

May not be the company I need

To pay attention

This is serendipity. 

  
  


Merle seemed unfazed by Amelia's outburst. She looked at Amelia with a mocking grin.

"And what will happen if I don't?"

  
  


  
  


Zelgadis's pointy ears twitched. Was he hearing things or did he just hear an explosion?

  
  


"What's wrong Zel?" asked Lina as she stopped for a minute from eating her meal.

  
  


Zel glanced at her, debating in his head if he should inform her or not. "No need to alarm her now." he thought. "It's nothing." he said. "I am going to check on Amelia." The chimera went away from the table and straight towards the garden. He was positive that's where the sound came from. He wanted to make sure Amelia was alright.

  
  


Genius is in the mistakes

The rules do not apply

Maybe the wrong time and place

To the naked eye

To the conscious mind

Shouldn't be denied

Listen to the voice inside.

  
  


Zelgadis stepped outside and turned his head to the left where he saw Amelia. She had her back to him and from what he was able to see she appeared to be wiping her hands together like a person did after completing a job.

  
  


Zel called out to her. "Amelia!"

  
  


The princess turned around a bit startled. "Mr. Zelgadis!" she exclaimed

  
  


Zelgadis strolled over to her. "Are you alright? I thought I heard an explosion."

  
  


Amelia began to sweat nervously. "Oh that, it was nothing. No need to be worried." She kept shifting from left to right almost as if she was trying to block Zelgadis's view from something behind her. Fortunately, Zel was much taller then her so it was easy to look over her head.

  
  


Genius-he's a genius

Every big decision is a trial by fire

Wisdom acquired

Ooh baby, my heart aspires to genius 

  
  


What he saw made him sweat-dropped. Lying on the ground was- or at least appeared to be- a girl. She was moaning with pain and was burnt to a crisp like a bandit would be after having an encounter with Lina.

  
  


"Amelia who is that?" he asked, pointing over Amelia's shoulder.

  
  


Amelia glanced back at the girl. "Oh her? That's Merle, I was just teaching her a lesson."

  
  


Zelgadis crocked a suspicious eyebrow. "What kind of lesson?"

  
  


A sly smile grew across Amelia's face. "That if you can't say anything nice, then you shouldn't say anything at all."

  
  


"Ok?" Zelgadis replied as he scratched his head confused.

  
  


Amelia suddenly took Zel's arm and lead him back to the ball. "Come on Mr. Zelgadis, let's go dance some more."

  
  


They both entered the palace, leaving behind Merle who was starting to think it was safer and less painful to keep her mouth shut when around Amelia.

  
  


Genius is in the mistakes

The rules do not apply

Maybe the wrong time and place

To the naked eye

To the conscious mind

Shouldn't be denied

Listen to the voice inside 

  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
